Defender Duff delighted with Clarets’ eclectic styles of play

Dan Black

Defender Michael Duff has underlined the importance of finding different methods of winning in the Premier League.

In victory over Hull City at Turf Moor the Clarets registered a 74 per cent pass completion rate, 47 per cent possession while limiting the Tigers to just one shot on target.

Meanwhile, when securing the club’s second ever Premier League win on the road against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, the Clarets held on for a backs to the wall triumph.

The Clarets had a pass completion rate of 50 per cent against Mark Hughes’s side - the lowest rate in the Premier League since the Potters recorded a solitary percentage less against Wolves in April 2010.

“It was a strange game,” said the 36-year-old. “We were good for about 30 seconds after we scored the second goal but then we took a bit of a backwards step. They had nothing to lose after that and the fans stuck with them to be fair but we dealt with everything that they threw at us.

“It was like in the old days really with balls raining in for fun. We were organised and hard to beat. They forced a lot of pressure and a lot of crosses but other than that I can’t remember Tom (Heaton) having a save to make.”

He added: “It was almost more like a Championship game in the second half. They are okay because you’ve got to constantly concentrate - sometimes when you’ve got the ball more that’s when people switch off a bit more. The Premier League is ruthless but this was a different kind of game.

“Like the gaffer said last year, ‘you’ve got to find a way to win’ and we’ve shown different ways. Last week against Hull the performance was better, we passed the ball about, but you can’t play well every week. It’s what we did last year - finding a way to win and it’s important that we maintain that.”

Recent results may have surprised some on the outside, but the Northern Ireland international knows that football can quickly change opinions.

Duff, replaced by Manchester United loanee Michael Keane in the 76th minute at the weekend after sustaining a tight calf, said: “It is what it is. People who wrote us off before might think now that we could stay up. We know what we need to do. We need to perform every week and hopefully it’ll be enough. It’s another marker and another three points so we’ll just keep looking to move forward.

“Every team we play will know we’re not a bad team. Even the teams that have beaten us have shown us respect and they knew they had to be at it to win games.

“The minimum that we do is work hard and we’re organised. We want to give teams a game and with little bits of quality we’re starting to pick up points.

“People have formed opinions on the outside after five or six games - saying we couldn’t win or score.

“They said Ingsy wouldn’t score but now he’ll probably be a world beater. Ingsy is a good player, everybody knew that. We don’t get affected from people on the outside.”

Ahead of tomorrow’s fixture with 16th place Aston Villa at Turf Moor, Duff added: “It’s another tough game but there’s not many fixtures in this league that you can look at and think we might win that one. We’ve got to be at 100 per cent every game.

“You have to thrive on the underdog tag because it puts the pressure on the opposition. Every team that we play are expected to beat us. We know we’re not a bad team.”